Building on the roundup in today's paper:

The Ventura College women's basketball team opened its season with a 64-44 win over Los Angeles Southwest in the first round of the Vaquero Tournament at Glendale College on Friday.

Erika Ward scored 23 points, including five 3-pointers, and had four assists. Chanelle Brennan had 14 points and Kris King grabbed 10 rebounds.

Gabrielle Conn also contributed seven points and six rebounds and Amanda Padilla had eight points and five assists as Ventura, which had 19 assists as a team, opened up a 56-28 lead with 8:51 left in the second half.

VC plays Santa Ana today at 5 p.m. in a semifinal game of the three-day tournament.

Palomar 62, Moorpark women 33:The Raiders (2-3) didn't get their San Diego trip off to a good start against one of the top teams in the state.

Community College men's basketball

Long Beach City 76, Ventura men 69: Troy Watson scored 15 points, Pierce Brooks had 13 points, six rebounds and three blocks and Paul Batausa had six assists as Ventura (1-5) went two and out in the Irvine tournament.

Moorpark 69, Orange Coast 64:Dallas Rutherford scored 23 points, Matt Mazarei added 13 and Spenser Schulte 10 as Moorpark (1-3) won its first game of the season.

Building on the roundup in today's paper:

The Ventura College women's basketball team opened its season with a 64-44 win over Los Angeles Southwest in the first round of the Vaquero Tournament at Glendale College on Friday.

Erika Ward scored 23 points, including five 3-pointers, and had four assists. Chanelle Brennan had 14 points and Kris King grabbed 10 rebounds.

Gabrielle Conn also contributed seven points and six rebounds and Amanda Padilla had eight points and five assists as Ventura, which had 19 assists as a team, opened up a 56-28 lead with 8:51 left in the second half.

VC plays Santa Ana today at 5 p.m. in a semifinal game of the three-day tournament.

Palomar 62, Moorpark women 33:The Raiders (2-3) didn't get their San Diego trip off to a good start against one of the top teams in the state.

Community College men's basketball

Long Beach City 76, Ventura men 69: Troy Watson scored 15 points, Pierce Brooks had 13 points, six rebounds and three blocks and Paul Batausa had six assists as Ventura (1-5) went two and out in the Irvine tournament.

Moorpark men 69, Orange Coast 64:Dallas Rutherford scored 23 points, Matt Mazarei added 13 and Spencer Schulte 10 as Moorpark (1-3) won its first game of the season.

The Ventura College men's basketball team fell to 1-4 with a frustrating 63-53 loss to Imperial Valley Thursday night in Irvine despite a career high 22 points and six rebounds from Jeremiah Slowik and 10 points from Jordan Harris.

"We couldn't hit a shot," said coach Will Cowen. "We're not playing very well right now."

Ventura, which was just 8 of 18 from the line, faces Long Beach City in Friday's consolation semifinals. Imperial Valley improved to 1-0.

A loss would get the Pirates hope for Saturday night's playoff women's soccer game with Antelope Valley, rather than watching the football team's Orange County Bowl game against Golden West in nearby Costa Mesa.

Mixed results in the second day of the "We Play Hard" men's basketball tournament at Ventura College today.

Moorpark College dropped to 0-3 with a 78-73 loss to No. 3 Antelope Valley. Two tough losses this weekend for the Raiders

In the other consolation semifinal, a 16-3 run allowed Pasadena City to pull within 72-70 of Ventura College with 6:39 to play.

But the Pirates (1-2) held on for their first win of the season, 88-82, over the Lancers. Troy Watson had 20 points and Jordan Harris had 17.

Ventura will play Antelope Valley in Sunday's consolation final at noon. AVC eliminated VC in the state quarterfinals in 2005 and state semifinals in 2007.

Oxnard trails Los Angeles Valley, 44-38, in the first semifinal. James Ennis has 10 points.

Sophomore guard Ryan McLucas had 20 points, 10 rebounds and the game-clinching free throws and sophomore wing Craig Lee added 18 points and nine rebounds as the Condors shocked No. 3 Antelope Valley, 69-65, Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the "We Play Hard" tournament at Ventura College.

"It's a new year," said Lee.

"And we're changing things around," said McLucas.

Oxnard (1-1) had dropped the opening game in the eight-team November tournament in each of the past six years by an average margin of 84-60.

"This just goes to show that we're a pretty good team," said Oxnard coach Jason Cunningham.

Craig Lee scored 10 points and Ryan McLucas had seven as Oxnard opened a 29-16 lead on No. 3 Antelope Valley with 5:00 left in the first half of the opening quarterfinal of the "We Play Hard" men's basketball at Ventura College.

The Condors led 34-22 at the half behind 15 points from Lee and 7 points from James Ennis and Ryan McLucas.

Antelope Valley pulled to within six, 37-31, but 3s by Ryan McLucas, Bryce Showalter and James Ennis pushed Oxnard back ahead 48-37 with 10:10 to play.

More updates on on Twitter. There is a feed down the right hand of this page.

Here's my preview of the "We Play Hard" basketball tournament at Ventura College, which features all three local program.s

This weekend's "We Play Hard" men's basketball tournament, hosted by Ventura College, is a special treat for local community college fans.

For the first time in recent memory, all three local programs will play in the same tournament. Oxnard opens Friday's quarterfinals against powerful Antelope Valley at 1 p.m., Moorpark follows against Los Angeles Valley at 5 p.m. and Ventura hosts Orange Coast at 7 p.m.

"It should be a great atmosphere," said Ventura coach Will Cowen. "With everyone's budget the way it is, we should all try to stay local... It's better for everyone."

Molly Carson had 12 points, Bev Lamphear had 11 points and Reyneisha Mays had 10 points and seven rebounds as the sophomores led the Moorpark College women's basketball team to a season-opening win, 65-50, Tuesday night over visiting College of the Sequoias at Raider Pavilion.

Freshman Irene Lopez added six points and 14 rebounds. Moorpark (1-0) led 32-17 at the half. The Raiders open up the Santa Barbara tournament Saturday against Orange Coast.

Alley Reeves had a game-high 13 points for Sequoias (1-1).

The Oxnard College men's basketball team leads 36-35 at the half at L.A. Trade Tech. Condors close first half on a 11-3 run.

The Ventura College men's basketball team trails powerful Citrus, 45-32, at the half in its season opener at the VC Athletic Event Center.

Former Ventura center Randy Hunter leads Citrus with 10 points.

Playing without a pair of starters, the Moorpark College men's basketball team fell to host Los Angeles Harbor, 74-53, in its season opener Friday night.

Basketball season opens up this weekend as the Moorpark College men visit Los Angeles Harbor Friday night and Ventura College and Oxnard College men play Saturday afternoon.

The Pirates host Citrus at 2 and the Condors visit Los Angeles Trade-Tech at 5.
Ventura is welcoming all alumni back for the game.

Former stars who have already RSVPed for the postgame event include Cedric Ceballos, Lester Neal, Brandon Jessie, Tony Walker, Kevin Tate, Stephane Brown, Alfred Kennedy, Chris Clayton and Steve Amar.

UPDATE: Please note that Oxnard is on the road. The first version of this post said differently.

Several outgoing sophomores from the group that earned the Ventura College men's basketball team a share of the 2009 WSC North title are playing at four-year schools, including Danny Benson (Cal State Dominguez Hills), Will Faiivae (Texas A&M International), Prince Abidoye (Cal State Stanislaus) and Pepe Araujo (Kansas Wesleyan).

Alex Jamerson has joined San Diego State as a student assistant.

Former assistant coach Jon Wyers, now at Villanova Prep, has also hired Eric Gray and Andre Jamerson, Alex's older brother, as his junior varsity and soph-frosh coaches, respectively.

Former Ventura swingman Kevin Menner, who spent last season at Saddleback, has joined Cal State Northridge.

Moorpark College men's basketball coach Remy McCarthy has found his assistant. The Raiders have hired former Cal State Northridge director of basketball operations Ryan Dodd, who previously coached at Servite and St. John Bosco high schools.

"We really feel fortunate to have him available at this particular time of year," said McCarthy. "He's been at Cal State Northridge and anyone that knows Bob Braswell knows he's incredibly demanding."

Dodd won CIF and state basketball titles as a Servite High player, before walking onto the UCLA football team in 1992 and playing basketball at Cypress College in 1995-96.

"He's the kind of guy that's going to spend all his time in the gym," said McCarthy. "He's going to be able to recruit the Valley for us, which is critical.
"We're lucky as heck to have him."

Western Michigan men's basketball coach Steve Hawkins, a Ventura native, has a big name for his 2010 recruiting class -- Juwan Howard Jr., according to Slam Magazine.

On his first day as an assistant coach for the Ventura College's men's basketball, Joey Ramirez was asked to speak to the team.

Midway through an emotional sermon in the school's team room, Ramirez, who earned 1994 Western State Conference co-Most Valuable Player honors in orange and black, glanced over the door, where the painted "Eye of Tradition" had been during his playing days.

"I looked up there and it was gone," said Ramirez.

The Moorpark College men's basketball team is still searching for a replacement for former assistant Mick Cady, who left because of a scheduling conflict.

"We are in the process," said Moorpark athletic director Howard Davis. "That's all I can tell you."

The Ventura College women's basketball team finished No. 2 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's 2008-09 national Academic Honor Roll.

The Pirates, who went 34-1 and reached the state Final Four, earned a 3.352 overall GPA for the entire academic year, a program record.

It was the sixth straight year Ventura reached the national list. It trailed first-place Phoenix College by 0.026.

Click here for the official press release.

Joey Ramirez, who earned Western State Conference co-Player of the Year honors for Ventura College in 1993-94, has been hired as the Pirates' assistant coach, according to head coach and athletic director Will Cowen.

"There's several reasons why it's the ideal fit for VC," said Cowen. "The first reason is history, his legacy as a player, and the second is he's become an outstanding coach since playing here."

In the process, Ramirez stepped down as Oak Park boys' basketball head coach. He earned Tri-Valley Coach of the Year honors in 2007-08, having guided the Eagles to a league title and a 22-8 record. Oak Park was 16-11 last season.

Former VC assistant Jon Wyers was hired as Villanova Prep boys' basketball coach in April.

More to come on this developing story.

Former Oxnard College men's basketball coach Ron McClurkin was hired last month as the new men's basketball coach at West Los Angeles College.

"I decided that I wanted to get back into coaching and there's a lot of potential there," said McClurkin of the school. "It's a really good situation, right in the middle of L.A. I just have to get some recruiting done."

McClurkin, who will still teach full time at Oxnard, was reassigned in 2007 after 14 years as the coach at the Condor Center.

"It's a real good opportunity," said McClurkin. "If you want to get back in, sometimes you don't get back into a good spot. But I think this is a real good spot."

The location is good for several reasons, McClurkin said. His local recruits will be able to sleep in their own beds at night. Plus, the school's location in Culver City will allow McClurkin to virtually coach the team on his ride from Oxnard College to his home in Gardena.

"I timed it the other day," said McClurkin. "It's 17 minutes from my driveway to the parking lot (at West L.A.). Not bad during morning traffic."